Things didn't turn out the way they're supposed to, but what can you do? You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it. - Yann Martel

Religion is more than rite and ritual.

Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed. A school of fish appeared around the net or a knot cried out to be reknotted. Or I thought of my family, of how they were spared this terrible agony. The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving.

"There's no boot."
No boot?"
No."
That makes me sad."
I ate it."
You ate the boot?"
Yes."
Was it good?"
No. Were the cigarettes good?"
No. I couldn't finish them."
I couldn't finish the boot."